A plectrum, commonly referred to as a pick, is a small, piece of material such as metal, ivory, tortoise shell, celluloid etc. having opposed, usually planar, surfaces. The pick is used for plucking the strings of a stringed instrument. These plectrums or picks are never noticed by people listening to the instrument being played, but they are important to the players of the instrument. In a sense musicians are married to their picks. The reason is that subtle variations in the shape of the pick, the material its made of, its resilience, and its size, affect the tone of the musical instrument in the hands of the musician. Since all musicians have different requirements, once a musician finds his "perfect pick" he guards it very carefully.
The pursuit of the perfect pick by players of stringed instruments, has resulted in the development of picks available in a fantastic variety of sizes, shapes, and materials as described and shown in the definitive work "Picks" by Will Hoover, published by Miller Freeman Books, of 600 Harrison St. San Francisco, 94107, @1995 along with the citations set forth therein.
Other patented picks are shown in the patents to Kline U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,562, Gonzales, U.S. Pat. No. 4,137,814, Moshay U.S. Pat. No. 3,113,668, Paxtom, U.S. Pat. No. 3,595,118, Galetzky, U.S. Pat. No. 3,319,505, Adamec U.S. Pat. No. 4,270,433, Chemette, U.S. Pat. No. 3,648,558, McPherson, Sr. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 268,844, and the German patent to Adamec #29 11 619.
The pick is grasped between the thumb and index finger of the player of a stringed instrument, such as a guitar, mandolin, etc. as shown in the German patent to Adamec #29 11 619 and FIG. 3 of the Moshay patent. In use, the strings of the instrument are strummed or plucked. But one of the problems with prior picks was its tendency to slip or rotate between the grasping thumb and index finger when the pick was forcibly used on the strings of the instrument (depending on the requirements of the music). An initial attempt to solve these problems was considered in the Moshay U.S. Pat. No. 3,113,668. Moshay formed a circular hole in the pick. This permitted the skin of the thumb and index finger to engage each other on opposite surfaces of the pick. In this way, when the pick was in use, the stability of the pick in the fingers of the musician was increased. However, this arrangement was not completely suitable because the smooth periphery of the opening in the Moshay pick did not provide sufficient resistance to pick movement or rotation when the musician was required to play his instrument intensively.
But resistance to rotation or other movement is only one factor in the selection of a perfect pick for each musician. Other factors are the tone and feel of the pick. Up to now, no attempt was made to design a pick with these requirements in mind. Instead, musicians had to engage in a tedious trial and error method by practicing with a large variety of picks to find the one most suitable. It is clear that by initially selecting a pick from a preferred material and thickness, the search for a pick with the desired shape, flexibility, and tone, could be shortened.
But another problem has to be considered. After a "perfect pick" has been found, in the course of time, it could become lost, or it could wear down and have to be replaced. Finding an identical replacement for the perfect pick from among all the multitude of picks available, is difficult and time consuming because it is not economical for music stores to keep in stock the enormous numbers of picks that are available, (see "Picks" by Will Hoover) cited above. This suggests a need for a standard tunable pick, because such a pick could be economically stocked in music stores. In this way, a musician who had previously tuned a standard tunable pick, could easily select another, and tune it, so it is exactly like his prior pick in tone and feel.
What is needed therefore and comprises an important object of this invention is to provide a standard tunable pick which can be easily modified to change its tone and feel.